Despite the tense situation in Israel, the Light of the Resurrection will be brought to Sibiu with the help of a private plane, according to sources from the Sibiu Metropolis. Scheduled to arrive on May 4, 2024, it will be distributed the same evening, between 20:00 and 20:30, by His Eminence Laurenţiu, the Archbishop of Sibiu and the Metropolitan of Transylvania. After Sibiu, the flight will continue to other airports in Romania, the Resurrection Light being to the faithful, thanks to a tradition initiated in 2009.
What is the Holy Light?
During the Great Vespers on Holy Saturday, between 12:30 and 2:30 p.m., above the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, a fire is lit every year that descends from the sky and which, for the first few minutes, does not burn, called Holy Light.
Many of those present compared this light to a globe that spreads into thousands of rays, which reach the slab of the Holy Sepulcher, thus igniting the cotton wool sprinkled on top. The role of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilus III a, is to take this burning cotton in his hands, place it in two golden cups and return with it to the Chapel of the Angel, from the premises the Holy Sepulcher. Then, the patriarch lights two bundles of kote 33 candlessymbolizing the savior’s age at the time of the crucifixion, with which he comes out and shares the light of the waiting believers (photo).
This Holy Light takes the path of dioceses from hundreds of corners of the world, through their delegates, who transport it by plane or car, in special candles, to reach the faithful.
Like every year, in Romaniathe Holy Light will be brought from Jerusalem, on Saturday evening, by the Superior of the Settlements of the Romanian Patriarchate at the Holy Places, Father Archimandrite Teofil Anastasoaie and will be offered, on May 4, 2024, to the delegates of the dioceses, present at Henri Coandă International Airport, in Bucharest. Since 2015, Archimandrite Teofil Anăstăsoaie is the Representative of the Roman Patriarchate at the Holy Places and the Superior of the Church Settlements in Jerusalem, Jericho and Jordan.
On the same evening of May 4, 2024, around 7:00 p.m., the Holy Light will be received at the Patriarchal Cathedral by His Beatitude Father Patriarch Daniel, the Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchate announces in a press release
Sfântă Lumină, taken from the airport by IPS Laurenţiu Streza, will also go to 3 other counties
“Depending on how the procedures will unfold in Jerusalem, especially at the airport in Tel-Aviv, against the background of the delicate situation in the Holy Land, the Light of the Resurrection will arrive in Sibiu, but we can only approximate the time, which means that it will be close to same as last year”as sources from the Metropolis of Sibiu told us.
They also told us that “the people of Sibiu can rest assured, the Holy Light will surely reach them, with a private plane that will depart from Bucharest and which, after Sibiu, will continue its flight to the airports of Cluj, Maramureş (Baia Mare) and Satu Mare, to take The Light of the Resurrection of the faithful from these parishes”.
The Holy Light will arrive in Sibiu on May 4, 2024, following the same procedure as last year, when it was taken over and offered, after 20:00-20:30, by His Eminence Laurenţiu, Archbishop of Sibiu and Metropolitan of Transylvania, at the International Airport of Sibiu, to all the delegations from the dioceses of the Metropolis. And the priests from Sibiu will be able to take it from the Metropolitan Cathedral after 21.00, approximated representatives of the Transylvanian Metropolis.
On the night of May 4, 2024, on the occasion of the Feast of the Resurrection, the Holy Light, brought to the Metropolitan Cathedral and the other churches in Sibiu county, will be distributed to the faithful at midnight.
The tradition of bringing the Holy Light from Jerusalem to Romania was inaugurated by PF Daniel in 2009.
